Code of Conduct
General
Introduction
N.O.D.E. - Northern Ontario Dev Exchange is dedicated to providing a harassment-free and inclusive experience for everyone regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. N.O.D.E. - Northern Ontario Dev Exchange takes violations of our policy seriously and will respond appropriately.
Policy
All participants of N.O.D.E. - Northern Ontario Dev Exchange events and online spaces must abide by the following policy:
- Be excellent to each other. We want every event to be an excellent experience for everyone regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category. Treat everyone with respect. Participate while acknowledging that everyone deserves to be here, and each of us has the right to enjoy our experience without fear of harassment, discrimination, or condescension, whether blatant or via micro-aggressions. Jokes should not demean others. Consider what you are saying and how it would feel if it were said to or about you.
- Speak up if you see or hear something. Harassment is not tolerated, and you are empowered to politely engage when you or others are disrespected. The person making you feel uncomfortable may not be aware of what they are doing, and politely bringing their behavior to their attention is encouraged. If a participant engages in harassing or uncomfortable behavior, the organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning or removing the offender from the event. If you are being harassed or feel uncomfortable, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the organizing team immediately.
- Harassment is not tolerated. Harassment includes, but is not limited to: verbal language that reinforces social structures of domination related to gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category; sexual imagery in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; offensive verbal language; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
- Practice saying "Yes and" to each other. It is a theatre improv technique to build on each other's ideas. We all benefit when we create together.
Scope
This policy extends to talks, workshops, hackathons, meetups, social media, social gatherings, hallway conversations, and all attendees, partners, sponsors, volunteers and organizers. N.O.D.E. - Northern Ontario Dev Exchange reserves the right to refuse admittance to, or remove any person from, any N.O.D.E. - Northern Ontario Dev Exchange hosted event at any time in its sole discretion. This includes, but is not limited to, attendees behaving in a disorderly manner or failing to comply with this policy.
We will look into and review every allegation of a violation of this policy and respond appropriately. Please note, while we take all concerns raised seriously, we will use our discretion as to determining when and how to follow up on reported incidents, and may decline to take any further action and/or may direct the participant to other resources for resolution.
Organizers will be happy to help participants contact venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing discomfort or harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.
Partners, sponsors and similar activities are also subject to this policy. In particular, exhibitors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. Participants, partners and sponsors disobeying this policy will be notified and are expected to stop any offending behavior immediately.
Why this policy is important
Harassment at events and in online communities is unfortunately common. Creating an official policy aims to improve this by making it clear that harassment of anyone for any reason is not acceptable within our events and communities. This policy may prevent harassment by clearly defining expectations for behavior, aims to provide reassurance, and encourages people who have had bad experiences at other events to participate in ours.
License and attribution
This policy is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license.
This policy is based on and influenced by several other community policies including Ohio LinuxFest Anti-Harassment policy, Con Anti-Harassment Project, Geek Feminism Wiki (created by the Ada Initiative), ConfCodeofConduct.com, JSconf, Rust, Diversity in Python, and Write/Speak/Code.
Report incident
To report an incident, speak to an organizer at the event or contact our team below:
- N.O.D.E. organizers, admin@nodesudbury.com
Report by email
You can email a report. Reports are treated confidentially, and we will investigate and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.